Prices too high!?!?

[Mark McCall]

Originally Posted by jarrison

Letting another person see your bid to a state funded school before all the bids are in, and also kickbacks is all this legal?

I have no idea if it's legal or not. But shootouts have been done that way for years. At least around here.

But it's not a school. It's a sport league. (dunno if that makes a difference).

Everybody in the room sees your bid. You see all of theirs.
There's nothing private about it.
There's photographers, candy sellers, coupon book printers, beef jerky sellers, cookie dough sellers. All fund raising companies are there.

[Pony]

I believe the term kickback is illegal.So to fix that,the organization don't accept kickbacks-and you don't offer them-they onlly accept donations.How you word it makes all the difference.

[Mark McCall]

Originally Posted by my li'l pony

I believe the term kickback is illegal.So to fix that,the organization don't accept kickbacks-and you don't offer them-they onlly accept donations.How you word it makes all the difference.

Could be.
We're gearing up to sign the contracts for 2009.
I'll have to see how it's worded in the contract.

[Arved]

You have to look at both sides of the bid. You asked for what you wanted. The other side is to look at what price is the job no longer worth doing. In a competative environment, you have to look at that bottom-end common denominator. They won't care if you have the best pro equipment or a dimestore 2 MPixel P&S. Both are capable of producing acceptable 8x10s, and with the rise of the DIY photo industry, and outstanding consumer cameras, frankly, you're wasting pro gear churning out 8x10s and smaller. It's a tough market with low expectations.

You were probably compared on your minimum package. Next year, you may want to reduce what's offered to lower the minimum package price, and then make up for it in the packages you'll upsell.

It may mean you're only giving a 5x7. It may mean you're giving an 8x10 printed el-cheapo rather than the finest print available. For instance, you might only give an 8x10 glossy at rock bottom prices, but a mounted satin finish print with a premium price product. Your marketing material should be clear about the added value of your premium products, not just in terms for quantity, but quality.

Learn from your experience. Find out as much as you can about the competitor who beat you, do some market research on how satisfied the band parents were with the work, and work to address the shortcommings and price issues in next year's bid. If there was a kickback, investigate how it was done, and learn to play the game (without getting burned - last thing you want is a 60-minutes van at your door).

[cgallo]

Originally Posted by Arved

You have to look at both sides of the bid. You asked for what you wanted. The other side is to look at what price is the job no longer worth doing. In a competative environment, you have to look at that bottom-end common denominator. They won't care if you have the best pro equipment or a dimestore 2 MPixel P&S. Both are capable of producing acceptable 8x10s, and with the rise of the DIY photo industry, and outstanding consumer cameras, frankly, you're wasting pro gear churning out 8x10s and smaller. It's a tough market with low expectations.

You were probably compared on your minimum package. Next year, you may want to reduce what's offered to lower the minimum package price, and then make up for it in the packages you'll upsell.

It may mean you're only giving a 5x7. It may mean you're giving an 8x10 printed el-cheapo rather than the finest print available. For instance, you might only give an 8x10 glossy at rock bottom prices, but a mounted satin finish print with a premium price product. Your marketing material should be clear about the added value of your premium products, not just in terms for quantity, but quality.

Learn from your experience. Find out as much as you can about the competitor who beat you, do some market research on how satisfied the band parents were with the work, and work to address the shortcommings and price issues in next year's bid. If there was a kickback, investigate how it was done, and learn to play the game (without getting burned - last thing you want is a 60-minutes van at your door).

Thanks for the advice!